#the backdoor pilot to mystery inc has dropped

[freddyjoncs]

𝙲𝙾𝙾𝙻𝚂𝚅𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟻.

t a g g i n g : fred jones sr, judy reeves, brad chiles.

t i m e f r a m e : summer 1995

l o c a t i o n :  coolsville

n o t e s : zulema said it’s finally time to expand the coolsville cinematic universe. for more insight to the foolery read freddy’s self-discovery para. 

when the town of coolsville comes to mind you don’t think of the white picket fences, family barbecues in the summertime heat or pleasantville USA. No, you think of the deaths, the monsters, the mysteries that run deep within the town. for years, mayor jones has tried his best to bury the past. He wanted to present this squeaky clean image. a town you could raise a family in, after all, his family was the mold. perfect mayor & father and perfect son. 

and if he couldn’t do that, he would just bank on how marketable the town was.

not everyone could keep up with the joneses after all.

judy reeves knew that all too well. her curiosity is what ultimately lead to her demise. had she only stopped digging perhaps she could’ve had the white picket fence dream her boyfriend always dreamed for them and their son.

being a coolsville native, judy always knew there was something off about the town. bad things always happened to coolsville inhabitants. the neighbouring city of hallow falls seemed to have the same luck, not as bad, she thought. sure, they had the myth of the sanderson sisters but at least people didn’t die every couple of years in their town. coolsville didn’t have that luck. she could tell you the stories of each killer by heart. she had memorized them, found an interest in it like every teen had.  

captain cutler, miner-forty-niner, creeper, fireball mcphan, ben ravencroft, jonathan jacobo, lena dupree and most recently tommy lomis. all infamous for the crimes they had committed against the town. all now stories told to scare children. but judy knew there was more to it. these weren’t stories or just random happenings. it was a curse.

coolsville was cursed.

over the years the stories no longer struck fear into the hearts of the people of coolsville. the last spree had happened in 1978 at the now demolished camp Grimwood. The Jones family had seen to it that the camp would be gone in hopes for the town to move on. They had healed now. it felt right to go back to a life or normalcy. it’s what brad had wanted for them - especially when their son robbie came along.

judy reeves and brad chiles, high school sweethearts turned young parents had always been stuck to each other’s side through thick and thin. Judy a bright girl with an extraordinary future before her. at least, that’s what everyone said. valedictorian,  prom queen, top of her class and just over all a wonderful girl. everyone believed she was going places until she found herself shacked up with brad chiles, the boy from the other side of the tracks who was nothing but trouble. they all said the moment they met her life was over. when she got pregnant her senior year of high school everyone believed it to be true. another waste of a perfectly good future. it’s why the elite of coolsville stayed on their side. 

but Judy had never been like them. she wasn’t a classist asshole like her parents. Brad wasn’t some fun little side project either. she genuinely loved him and their son who game into the world on graduation. she didn’t need fancy titles, nice cars or riches to make her happy in life. the family she had created with brad was enough. life was perfect in her eyes

that is until her brother murdered innocent people. 

it was a late summer in june. Brad’s brother, Jacob, who worked at the local mall was on a closing shift. He was supposed to return home just like he always did but instead they received a call from sheriff stone. Jacob was dead. Not only that he had murdered five people at the mall including his best friend, Alice May. The only way to stop him was a shot through the head.

Judy couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. Brad’s brother would never do such a thing. Jacob was a good kid he wasn’t capable of murder. there was only one reason as to why he would behave in such a way.

the curse.

it had to be the curse. Judy was so sure of it. There was no way Jacob could ever do such a thing. 

“There has to be some knowledge about it.” Judy said as she looked through books in the local library. 

“babe, it’s late. we’ve been at this for hours. we’ve found nothing.” which is exactly what brad expected. he didn’t have the heart to tell his girlfriend to stop. nor did he have the heart to tell her that trying to place a curse on his brother’s actions didn’t help the grieving process. 

“brad, I know there has to be something here. everyone chants about that damn curse and spit it in your face. they write it on the walls, for christ sa-” a hand fell on judy’s hand during her tangent.

“our son is at home.” was all brad said and judy stopped to look at him with sad eyes. as much as her stubbornness wanted to keep pushing for answers Judy knew that Robbie was waiting for them at home. Another day, she thought. another day she’d try it again. for now, she would go home and take care of her son.

.....

as much as brad wanted judy to stop her wild goose chase he knew she would never stop. by the end of june he had enough of it. they fought more about her trying to break this silly curse than anything else. he had made peace with what happened with his brother why couldn’t judy just leave it the fuck alone? 

“there is no curse judy!” he yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Yes there is, brad! Why do you think bad things keep happening to this town? consistent murders don’t just happen like they do here.”

“people are monsters. what do you expect? it can’t all be sunshine and rainbows. I know the north side taught you that it was.” there was a silence that fell over them.

“I didn’t mean-” fuck, but he did, didn’t he? he resented judy at times because she came from privilege because she lived in the land of white picket fences and green lawns and he came from the side of the town where your brothers killed innocent people. 

“I know that I had it much easier than you. You don’t have to throw that in my face. but why can’t you just believe me? The stories-”

“they’re just ghost stories, judy.” 

she turned away from him, not wanting brad to see the tears welling up in her eyes.

“but they’re not.”

.....

it turns out her relentless searching wasn’t for nothing. on her journey for the truth she discovered two of her classmates, Cassidy Williams and Ricky Owens, were believers of the curse as well. in fact, they had a uncovered more clues than judy had alone.

the curse, was believed to be brought upon by annabeth fier. a witch from hallow falls. it was said she cursed the town for hanging her and every so years she came and exacted her revenge on coolsville for what they had done to her. 

for the first time it made sense. a town full of mysteries and this had to be the biggest one of all. Ricky and Cassidy held the biggest clue of all - an occult book with information on the curse and a path to the witches mark. it felt like a long shot and maybe it was but it was also the closest judy had gotten to the truth. she couldn’t give up now that she was close. the truth was being dangled before her. if she could prove that the curse was real maybe she could also break it as well. 

although things were tense between her and brad he had promised to accompany her on the journey. not without a price of course. if this turned out to be a hoax, as he believed it to be, he made judy promise him this is the last that she’d ever bring up the curse. it was the deal judy had agreed to. she would do just about anything to bring back some normalcy between her and brad again. she knew he was mostly going for his own peace of mind since he didn’t trust the stranger leading judy on her wild goose chase.

the four of them were going to uncover the truth of coolsville.

......

The witches mark was located until the coolsville mall which is where the grimwood camp massacre took place. the mall was reopened now that a month had passed after the murder. judy could tell brad was tense sitting the the driveway. the pain would never go away, the wound was still too fresh. there was a wave of guilt that washed over judy as she stared at the building before her. 

Cassidy’s uncle worked as a janitor for the mall so they had access to the place after dark. the only way to get under was to get in. after strategic planning the four made their way into the building once closed. From the looks of the map the closest entrance was a grate near the emergency exit. it was a tight squeeze but the four of them managed to get in.

it was dark and cold. the underlying tunnels under the mall were cave like. the further they ventured the more the air in the channels seemed to shift. there was buzzing in the distance of what seemed like flies and a pounding? why was there pounding in caves. It sounded like a heart, beating rhythmically in time to theirs. it seemed to grow louder, faster the four swore the ground beneath them was vibrating. as they continued the once barren cave was now grown with red moss, littering every inch of the walls around them and soon they found themselves at the heart of it all.

etched out before them was the same symbol in the book cassidy was holding. the witches mark. The four of them stared at it in awe until ricky’s voice broke the silence. “Yo, guys y’all might wanna see this.” the trio turned to see giant slabs of stone before them with writing present on each one. judy got closer to see what was written before her.

 captain cutler, miner-forty-niner, creeper, fireball mcphan, ben ravencroft, jonathan jacobo, lena dupree, tommy lomis and jacob chiles.

all the names of the coolsville killers.

“Every single person written here went on a killing spree.” Ricky said softly as he began to reach out to touch the stone but was abruptly stopped by brad.

“So what does that mean someone’s playing god and forcing people to do this shit?” brad spat, his eyes staring intently at his brother’s name.

“Close.”

a voice called from the distance. 

“I wouldn’t call it god.” from the shadows of the tunnel appeared Fred Jones, the mayor’s son. coolsville’s golden boy in every single way. The Jones family was one of if not the wealthiest family in town with immense power in their hands. the way he was staring at the four of them left judy’s stomach uneasy.

“how do you know about this place?” she asked, pretending to not hear the latter part of his statement.

“better question, why are you and how did you get that?” he said, nodding towards the book that cassidy was now holding close to her chest.

“Don’t make me ask you again or else-” judy started but was promptly cut off. “Or else what? you’re going to cry curse again? my god, Judy, you’ve turned into the town nut. who’s going to listen to a word you say? after you’ve lost your status shacking up with that southside trash no one is going to care what you think. I mean, if you dump him maybe they would but with that brat of yours....” and as if on cue another figure emerged from the shadows carrying a sleeping robbie in their arms. “no one will ever believe you again.”

At the sight of their child, Brad began to lunge towards Fred but was halted by a raised finger and a a string of tsks. “You wouldn’t want to wake the baby now would you?”

“What do you want, Fred?” Judy croaked out, her hand placed on Brad’s arm as she tried to keep her boyfriend at bay. she was barely keeping her own composure.

“I want the book. It belong to my family. I also want your compliance. The four of you know too much. I can’t have you silly little wannabe sleuths exposing the truth. So i want you gone. All of you are to leave coolsville before sunrise. that is, if you’d like to live of course. Give me any problems or tell a soul about any of this and i’ll make sure brad’s name is right under his brothers.” he paused to look brad dead in the eyes who was now looking as pale as a ghost. “you’ll only remember bits and pieces of killing them, Bradley but I know you’ll remember the sound of their screams and their blood on your hands.” the wicked grin on fred’s face struck fear into the very core of all four of them. 

“and to make sure no funny business occurs. i’m keeping him. for collateral.” Fred added as baby robbie was placed into his arms. and at that the four of them were being escorted out of the cave by fred’s goons. judy doesn’t remember much. the entire situation was a haze of emotions. the next thing she remembered was driving away in brad’s van, an unsettling silence hanging over them as tears streamed down her face. the sunset before them was a sign that day was here once again. how could she begin to think of a new day when her entire world had been shattered in an entire night?

she should have listened to brad and stopped searching for answers in ghost stories. 

that’s all they weren’t after all.

stories.

......

looking down at the child in his arms fred’s brows furrowed as his index finger caressed the smooth cheek of the child. It caused the baby to stir but never waking up. Fred almost found it endearing. almost. There was no time for attachments. There was a prophecy to be continued. the baby in his arms was the key for their success. 

“Dad always said I needed an heir. you’ll be just perfect won’t you, freddy?”

......

freddy looked down at the book in front of him. when he searched his father's belongings he had found the book hidden next to his files. after the monsters had attacked freddy looked to the book for answers. he was going to show the gang but with all that was going on how could he bring up coolsville mysteries when they were fighting for their lives? he knew how to read a room.

so now here he was alone in his room looking at the book. he hadn’t dare open it since he brought it back. what laid within it scared freddy more than anything but if he was going to get answers about his father he needed to start here.

why else would his father have this if it wasn’t important?

so he opened it only to find that the curse was true. the one he had heard stories of that his father said was nothing but bullshit. just like his pretend mysteries. 

the only way to break the curse was to unite hand with body. 

[twh-news]

Skull Island' Review: King Kong Kicks Butt In This Gorgeous Pulp Adventure | Forbes

Kong: Skull Island opens in North America on March 10, 2017 courtesy of (among others) Legendary and distributor Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. The film, budgeted at around $185 million, is both the start of a would-be franchise and something of a backdoor pilot for what the Dream Factory hopes will be a cinematic universe involving the likes of King Kong, Godzilla and other famous beasties. We’re getting Godzilla: King of the Monsters (a sequel to the 2014 Godzilla) in 2019 and Kong vs. Godzilla in 2020. So as you can see, there is more at stake than a single movie.

That’s the inherent risk of this whole expanded universe game. Under normal circumstances, Kong would merely be responsible for making enough money and audience approval to justify its expenses further installments. But since it’s the backbone of an expanded universe, a responsibility that Godzilla did not share, it has the extra burden of justifying and creating excitement for what comes next. Once again, Mr. Kong, we ask too much of you.

The good news is that, should this film do well and get decent reviews, it will go that much further in dispelling the conventional wisdom that Warner Bros. is a house of horrors due to the ups and downs of DC Comics movies. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them earned $811 million worldwide and mostly positive reviews while The LEGO Batman Movie scored raves and solid box office. If the Skull Island is a well-received hit and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword avoids utter embarrassment, there is frankly only so much grief we can give the studio no matter how good or bad Wonder Woman and Justice League turn out to be.

The Review:

Kong: Skull Island is high-quality pulp fiction. The picture is a briskly paced and character-driven adventure that just happens to be a big-budget monster mash and part of a would-be cinematic universe. The film has a game cast amid stunning visuals and gorgeous cinematic sights. It may not be the eighth wonder of the world, but this King Kong revamp is often quite beautiful.

While the film is technically a prequel to the Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, it stands entirely on its own in terms of content and visual style. The 2014 monster mash was a grim and foreboding affair, shrouded in darkness and mystery while offering the barest hint of humanity amid its jaw-dropping visuals. Skull Island goes almost the opposite route, plunging us immediately into the world of its quirky human characters and wasting little time giving us what we came to see and delivering most of its thrills in broad daylight.

Regarding cinematic foreplay, this is less Jaws and more The Host. While both styles have their merits, Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and John Gatins’ witty screenplay keeps us entertained and intrigued during the exposition and earns our investment in those who will soon fight for their lives. While I wouldn’t argue that this is a course correction, as Godzilla (which I didn't care for beyond the visuals) certainly had its merits and its fans, it is encouraging that the second film in this continuity can be so different regarding tone, focus and style. This is a possible signal that Legendary and Warner Bros.’ monster universe might well be filmmaker-driven.

While Godzilla was called “the first post-human blockbuster,” Kong: Skull Island is as much about watching the likes of John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson chew scenery as it is about King Kong and the various monsters of Skull Island. But fear not sports fans, you get a whole heaping of monster mash action throughout the 118 minutes. If you’ve managed to go this far without knowing too much, especially if you’ve avoided the most recent trailer (note: do not watch the final spoiler-filled trailer), I’ll try to be as vague as I can.

Set in 1973 as the Vietnam War winds to a close, the film follows a group of motley outsiders, including a discredited scientists (Goodman), a professional soldier (Hiddleston), a cynical war photographer (Larson), a geologist (Corey Hawkins), a biologist (Jing Tian) and the head of the chopper unit tasked with flying these folks into uncharted peril (Jackson). Goodman and friends are heading to Skull Island to conduct a land survey. Things almost immediately go to hell.

Shot by Larry Fong, the guy who almost had me giving Batman v Superman a positive review, this is an utterly beautiful motion picture. The naturalistic visuals, imbued with a particular hot orange vividness, gives the film an absolute authenticity of time and place and at least the appearance of realism even when we are clearly watching special effects. I saw this in glorious 2D, but I imagine it’s worth the IMAX 3D upgrade as the broad daylight action will probably survive any 3D glasses-related dimness.

And the title creature is a marvel, standing 100 feet tall and exuding animalistic menace no matter which side he’s fighting on at any given moment. His major introductory beat is a superb action sequence, even if it’s structured more for action-adventure thrills than horror or intensity. The film manages to humanize its main monster without being overly patronizing. This Kong is a protector of Skull Island. But if you get into his turf, he will bat you out of the sky without thinking twice.

Even after the monstrous stakes are established, there is still a relative focus on the humans attempting to survive and make it to a planned pick-up spot. Along the way, they stumble onto World War II soldier who has been living on the island for 30 years. Said MIA (John C. Reilly) provides comic relief, a surprising poignancy and plenty of exposition. Reilly quickly becomes Skull Island’s MVP.

Most of the survivors are focused on not dying, while Jackson allows his grief over first act casualties to turn him into a Captain Ahab figure. It’s an expected turn, but one which allows the survivors to have a conflict more potent than merely running away from scary monsters. The rest of his soldiers are slice-of-life characters, drawn just vividly enough so that you’ll briefly mourn when one of them cashes out.

Hiddleston is in full brooding rogue mode, even if he gets one moment of almost comical heroism. Goodman is superb, as always, although Booker and Tian fall back a bit once Reilly’s starts scene-stealing. Larson is fine, even if she is somewhat hobbled by being the only major female character. There are refreshingly few “beauty and the beast” interactions between the great ape and the empathetic photojournalist, which is a good thing since we're getting an actual Beauty and the Beast a week after this movie, but she doesn’t get much else to play in the film’s latter half.

The picture loses some of its character focus in the second act as certain characters split off from other characters, which leaves some of the more interesting folks out of sight and out of mind for a while. But the finale comes together in an exciting and satisfying fashion, delivering a climax that pays off the film’s Apocalypse Now and Moby Dick themes while providing the required monster mash action. And while there is less of a sense of awe to be found than Peter Jackson’s more overtly romantic take on this story, there are any number of gorgeous moments of vivid cinematic beauty and iconic imagery.

Kong: Skull Island is an action spectacular that offers large-scale monster mayhem, moments of cinematic poetry (like the grand moments of Kong standing tall amid the sun-drenched carnage) and memorable character work by a cast of overqualified thespians giving it their all. Skull Island is the very definition of a complete package. While the movie exists due to its IP and hopes for a larger cinematic universe, it justifies itself as high-quality popcorn entertainment and works as a piece of pop art unto itself.

While I admit will admit that the overall effect is less wondrous than the Naomi Watts/Adrien Brody/Jack Black fantasy, that’s also because movies like King Kong are a lot more commonplace than they were in 2005. Whether you prefer Peter Jackson’s epic romantic adventure or Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ lean and mean war story, they exist side by side along with the 1976 remake as artistically valid interpretations of the 1933 classic. Kong: Skull Island is a confident, pulpy, character-focused, big-scale adventure story that just happens to be a backdoor pilot for an expanded universe. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

P.S. Yes, there is a post-credits sequence, but it is terrible. It feels like it was shot during a lunch break and is not required viewing to understand Godzilla: King of the Monsters or the untitled Kong versus Godzilla movies. If you have to leave when the film ends, don’t feel too badly about it.